Chhattisgarhi is a language of India. It has approximately 11.5 million speakers, concentrated in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh and in adjacent areas of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Bihar. Chhattisgarhi is most closely related to Bagheli and Awadhi (Avadhi), and these languages are classified in the East Central Zone of the Indo_Aryan languages, the Indian branch of the Indo_European language family. Chhattisgarhi, like Sanskrit and Hindi, is written using the Devanagari script. According to the Indian Government, Chhattisgarhi an eastern dialect of Hindi, although it is widely considered by linguists to be distinct enough from Hindi to constitute a separate language. Chhattisgarhi has several identified dialects of its own, in addition to Chhattisgarhi Proper: Baighani, Bhulia, Binjhwari, Kalanga, Kavardi, Khairagarhi, Sadri Korwa, and Surgujia.

Chhattisgarhi cultural and political movements, with origins going back the 1920's, affirmed Chhattisgarhi cultural and linguistic identity and sought greater autonomy within India, which came about in 2000 when 16 districts of the state of Madhya Pradesh became the new state of Chhattisgarh.